LAREDO, Texas – Jose Alberto Izquierdo-Gonzalez, 28, an undocumented Mexican alien who had been living in Laredo, has been ordered to federal prison for assaulting Border Patrol agents and transporting aliens, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Izquierdo-Gonzalez entered a plea of guilty March 28, 2013.

Today, Senior U.S. District Judge George P. Kazen sentenced him to a term of 98 months in federal prison. In handing down the sentence, Judge Kazen took note of the defendant’s prior convictions for alien transporting in 2009, entering illegally in the same year as well as damages to a Border Patrol (BP) unit he rammed while trying to elude apprehension. When asked why he had behaved so recklessly, Izquierdo-Gonzalez simply stated that he had gotten scared and panicked because he didn’t want to go to jail. Judge Kazen countered by reminding him that he had assaulted BP agents in 2008 and stated to the defendant that he “must have a bad reaction to these arrests…some people are just like that.” He then told Izquierdo-Gonzalez that he now takes “the big prize” by “smashing vehicles…having persons flopping around in the back of the truck” and hitting agents.

According to court records and testimony presented at this morning’s hearing, BP agents saw Izquierdo-Gonzalez loading persons onto his Ford F-250 truck on Jan. 8, 2013, near the Rancho Viejo Subdivision in Laredo. Upon seeing the agents, Izquierdo-Gonzalez sped away from the riverbanks with aliens in the cab and some in the bed of the truck. One alien who hung onto the truck’s rear bumper was dragged for some distance. After a short pursuit through a residential area involving the truck traveling on residential sidewalks and knocking down a stop sign, he eventually lost control and stopped, facing the agents’ vehicles.

With persons still in the bed of the pickup truck, Izquierdo rammed the BP vehicles, injuring one of the agents. He then sped away until he lost control again and crashed into a nearby ditch. Miraculously, the persons in the bed managed to remain in the truck, but were treated for injuries at a local hospital. Izquierdo-Gonzalez was apprehended almost immediately by the agents after abandoning his truck and the passengers. Two of the passengers were identified as aliens illegally in the United States who said they had paid smugglers to get a ride from Izquierdo-Gonzalez.

Izquierdo-Gonzalez maintained not knowing there were persons in the bed of his truck, claiming he was giving a ride to his girlfriend, an undocumented alien who had just crossed from Mexico, and one other person whom he had just picked up.

The matter was investigated by the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations with the assistance of BP, Laredo Police Department and the Webb County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant United States Attorney Homero Ramirez prosecuted the case.